Lafayette thrived with change of pace offense

Lafayette quarterback Blake Searfoss was 12-for-13 on two uptempo scoring drives in the second half against Colgate.

Lafayette quarterback Blake Searfoss was 12-for-13 on two uptempo scoring drives in the second half against Colgate. (APRIL BARTHOLOMEW, THE MORNING CALL)

Paul ReinhardSpecial to The Morning Call

Will Lafayette continue to use an uptempo offense?

Frank Tavani had a word of caution Sunday for people who might be forming a different opinion about his Lafayette football team today.

"Hey, it's not, 'They're a hurry-up team now,' " Tavani said in the aftermath of a game in which the Leopards turned dramatically uptempo in the second half and stormed back for a 19-16 Patriot League victory over Colgate on Saturday in Hamilton, N.Y.

"Not yet," he added.

Following the emotional win, which came on a 31-yard field goal by freshman Thomas Martin as time ran out, Tavani said the thinking behind the halftime decision to turn up the heat offensively was "so there would be no more thinking, let's just go."

Sophomore quarterback Blake Searfoss, who took over when Leopard starter Drew Reed was injured in the first half, looked like he had been running the no-huddle offense all his life. He directed 55- and 67-yard drives that took a combined total of just 4 minutes, 10 seconds. He wiped out Colgate's 16-point lead and jump-started an offense that had just 57 yards in the entire first half.

"We've been practicing that since Day 1 of preseason, some segment every day," Tavani said Sunday about the trendy no-huddle. "We're pretty adept at it, and you can wear down the defense. They're huffing and puffing and not getting the rush."

But while he admits that his players "thrived on it" and "feel good with it," Tavani called it a "double-edged sword."

"It's good and I like it at times and when it's going like that, it's fine. But when you're three plays and out a couple times and your defense is right back in before they catch their breath, that's the downside."

Lafayette used an occasional no-huddle play or two in previous games, but most of those were situational. If one play produced a first down, the Leopards might come immediately to the line to run another play before the defense got set.

But on Saturday, one of the touchdown drives was seven plays, including 6-for-6 passing, in 1:22. The other was nine plays, including 6-for-7 passing, in 2:48.

Lafayette also was in a hurry when it got the ball with only 1:14 left in the game and the score tied at 16. In 1:11, the Leopards drove 62 yards on seven pass plays, five complete. The other three seconds were used by Martin to kick the game-winner.

But Tavani, a former tailback who is a smash-mouth football advocate, said, "There's still something to be said for playing ball-control offense and burning clock and keeping the ball away from the other team."

And then he added, "So, we'll see."

One thing about which there is no question is the fact that Lafayette (4-6 overall, 2-3 in the league) needed to try something drastic to regain some momentum heading into the 150th meeting with arch-rival Lehigh on Nov. 22 in Yankee Stadium. What better way to achieve it than to have to work to the end for it.

"It was certainly as satisfying a win for me and this program as they come, and over time there have been many great ones," Tavani said Sunday. "This is right up there. No one seems to be able to figure out the last time we came back from a 16-point deficit to win."

Perhaps the biggest Lafayette rally in recent years was in 2012 at Robert Morris. Down 28-7 at the half, the Leopards came back to tie the game at 28, only to lose on a field goal with 19 seconds left.

The Leopards' defense was outstanding Saturday, and captain James Coscia said, "We know there's a lot of pressure on us in games like that. Kept plugging away at them and finally the offense got clicking and scored some points and we just kept them pinned." He called it one of the top four or five wins of his four-year Lafayette career.

Shane Black, who had a career high 16 tackles against Colgate in 2012 but missed all of 2013 and the first half of 2014 with two different injuries, had 11 tackles Saturday and Tavani said, "He's back. He missed almost two years of ball and I told him he had to be patient." He has applied for a medical redshirt year and, if approved, could get that missed year back in 2015.

Reed had his foot X-rayed and no fracture was found, but Tavani said the talented sophomore will also have an MRI on the foot, which was still swollen on Sunday.

Lafayette has a much-needed bye this week, so the players will have "complete body rest and relaxation" until they return for a light practice Wednesday and then heavier drills from then on out. "Nobody's happier about that than Matt Bayly, our director of sports medicine," Tavani said. "This bye comes at a perfect time for us."